Diagnostics

Biochemical Terrain Testing

Your microenvironment—the terrain in which your cancer exists—can either promote or inhibit cancer growth. To assess your microenvironment and establish your baseline levels, we conduct advanced laboratory analyses which include our innovative, proprietary “terrain panel” along with additional assessments to uncover the specific pathways of progression, metabolic cancer drivers and cancer promoters unique to each patient’s disease and pathology. Included in this terrain panel: hormonal markers including routine blood counts, comprehensive metabolic chemistries, cancer biomarkers, and an additional set of advanced terrain labs that look at inflammation, glycemia and insulin, immune function, coagulopathy, and stress and sleep chemistry.

Our multi-targeted strategy allows us to individualize a treatment plan to each patient’s specific condition and unique biology, including metabolic, biochemical, circadian, immune and molecular profiles. Personalized medicine is central to our life-affirming approach—one that prioritizes not only treatment efficacy but also the restoration of biological integrity, the reduction of treatment toxicity and resistance, and the mitigation of treatment side effects. Equally important, this approach lays a foundation for an enduring recovery and reduced risk of recurrence.

We also assess for micronutrient depletion and the cumulative burden of toxic metabolites that typically occurs from conventional treatment. Although often overlooked in conventional treatment, correcting nutritional deficiencies and reducing or eliminating the buildup of toxic metabolites are critical to helping create a biochemical terrain that is inhospitable to cancer growth and supportive of healing and resilience.

There are additional sophisticated analyses that may be reviewed and considered during your medical and integrative oncology consultations, depending on your clinical needs. These assessments, and their relevance to your care, will be discussed in detail during your visit.

Additional Biochemical Terrain Testing We Offer

The Life Over Cancer model of care is structured around a framework of interconnected “spheres” that guide targeted clinical interventions for critical physiological factors. Among these factors are toxic burden, oxidative stress, gut microbiome, glucose metabolism, stress chemistry and circadian health—all recognized for their significant roles in the onset and progression of cancer, as well as response to cancer treatment.

Sphere One: The Internal Environment

The Internal Environment Sphere emphasizes the reduction of systemic inflammation and the enhancement of physiological balance to establish internal conditions that are unfavorable to cancer growth. Central to this sphere are assessments of toxic load and microbiome integrity, as both are pivotal in regulating immune function, inflammatory pathways, systemic homeostasis, and treatment response and survival.

Toxic Burden and Cancer

The accumulation of toxins—such as heavy metals (e.g., mercury, lead), mycotoxins (toxins produced from mold), and environmental pollutants (e.g., pesticides, plastics)—poses a significant threat to biological equilibrium. These substances contribute to cancer by:

Damaging DNA, leading to mutations and uncontrolled cell growth.
Overloading detoxification pathways, impairing the body’s ability to eliminate harmful substances.
Disrupting hormones, increasing the risk of hormone-sensitive cancers.
Weakening immune defenses, making it harder to identify and destroy cancer cells.
Driving chronic inflammation, which promotes tumor growth and tissue damage.

How Testing for Toxic Burden Supports Cancer Care

To restore balance, we utilize advanced toxic burden testing to:

Identify specific toxins in the body (e.g., heavy metals, pesticides, mold toxins).
Guide targeted detoxification strategies, including nutritional support, natural binders, and infrared sauna therapy.
Reduce systemic inflammation and strengthen immune function, optimizing the internal environment for better treatment outcomes.

The Microbiome and Cancer

The gut microbiome—a vast ecosystem of bacteria, viruses, and fungi—plays a crucial role in immune function, inflammation regulation, and overall health. An imbalanced microbiome (gut dysbiosis) or the presence of harmful microbes can contribute to cancer by:

Inducing chronic inflammation, increasing the risk of cancers.
Producing harmful substances, such as bacterial toxins linked to DNA damage.
Affecting nutrient metabolism, decreasing protective compounds like short-chain fatty acids.
Disrupting immune function, making it harder to fight cancer cells and recover from treatment.

The Role of Microbiome Analysis in Cancer Care

Since gut health is central to systemic inflammation and immune resilience, microbiome testing helps us:

Detect imbalances in gut bacteria, viruses, or parasites that may promote cancer.
Develop personalized strategies to restore microbial balance through diet, prebiotics, and antimicrobial interventions.
Reduce inflammation and enhance the body’s internal terrain for improved treatment efficacy.

Sphere Two: Biochemistry

The Biochemistry Sphere focuses on optimizing the body’s biochemical environment to counteract cancer-promoting factors. One critical aspect is oxidative stress, which plays a direct role in cancer development and progression.

Oxidative Stress and Cancer

Oxidative stress occurs when an excess of free radicals—such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS)—overwhelms the body’s antioxidant defenses. This imbalance contributes to cancer by:

Causing DNA damage, leading to mutations and tumor formation.
Fueling cancer progression, promoting inflammation and angiogenesis (new blood vessel growth for tumors).
Inducing therapy resistance, allowing cancer cells to survive treatments like chemotherapy and radiation.

Managing Oxidative Stress for Better Outcomes

By assessing oxidative stress levels, we can:

Provide dietary and supplement interventions rich in antioxidants to neutralize free radicals.
Support natural detoxification pathways and cellular repair processes.
Tailor therapies to minimize oxidative stress and enhance treatment effectiveness.

Interconnectedness of the Spheres

Dr. Block’s approach highlights how each sphere influences the others in shaping the body’s ability to combat cancer. The Internal Environment Sphere and the Biochemistry Sphere are deeply interconnected—when the toxic burden and microbiome are imbalanced, they contribute to oxidative stress by increasing inflammation and reducing the body’s ability to neutralize harmful free radicals.

For example, excessive toxic burden can impair liver function, decreasing the body’s ability to detoxify harmful compounds. This leads to increased oxidative stress, which in turn damages cellular structures and promotes cancer progression. Similarly, an imbalanced microbiome can trigger chronic inflammation, further exacerbating oxidative stress and immune dysfunction.

By addressing toxic burden and microbiome health within Sphere One (Internal Environment) and oxidative stress within Sphere Two (Biochemistry), we create a feedback loop that reinforces healing. A healthier microbiome improves detoxification efficiency, reducing oxidative stress, while a lower toxic burden decreases inflammation, allowing the body to better regulate oxidative damage. This interplay ensures a more robust internal terrain that supports overall treatment success and long-term wellness.

For additional information about any of the tests we offer, please call

1-877-41-BLOCK

(25625)

Glucose Monitoring Program

We understand that cancer does not develop in isolation—it emerges in the context of an individual’s internal biological terrain. One of the most influential terrain factors is glucose metabolism. Abnormal glucose regulation is not only a contributor to cancer risk and progression but also plays a critical role in inflammation, immune function, and overall metabolic health.

Our Blood Glucose Monitoring Program is rooted in cutting-edge integrative science and supports patients in making evidence-based, personalized dietary and lifestyle changes that directly impact their cancer terrain.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) allows us to track real-time glucose responses to specific foods, stress, sleep, and activity. We use this data to identify hidden glucose spikes, reactive hypoglycemia, or prolonged glucose elevations—all of which can fuel inflammation and cancer-promoting pathways.

By spacing the two monitoring periods two months apart, we can measure your initial baseline and track your progress after lifestyle and dietary interventions. This allows us to assess your unique metabolic response and tailor next steps. Each week during your CGM periods, our team will send you personalized text-based recommendations designed to optimize blood sugar stability, especially during treatment with specific drugs that we know cause elevated blood glucose levels, where metabolic modulation can influence treatment efficacy.

We’ll track post-meal glucose trends, overnight glucose dips, stress-related elevations, and variability—all of which are metabolic terrain markers.

Our Glucose Monitoring Test also include four weeks of meal plans, 100+ recipes, grocery lists & planning tools.

Nutrition is at the core of metabolic terrain modulation. Our meal plans are low-glycemic, anti-inflammatory, plant-forward, and aligned with the dietary principles that help to:

Support immune function
Reduce insulin and IGF-1 (key cancer growth drivers)
Stabilize energy and mood

Stress Chemistry and Circadian Health Evaluation

We require all new patients to do a Stress Chemistry and Circadian Health Evaluation. This is a home kit and assesses cortisol, melatonin and a number of additional hormonal biomarkers. Why is this so important? Because research has consistently demonstrated that assessing stress chemistry and circadian health are some of the key biomarkers associated with a patient’s prognosis, response to treatment and long-term survival. These tests also provide insight into a patient’s immune and biological integrity. Additionally, having this knowledge allows us to make adjustments to your treatment plan that can often reduce the resistance that commonly develops when undergoing treatment. Reducing treatment resistance – in other words, improving treatment sensitivity – can shift what might otherwise be an ineffective therapy to an effective therapy.